Nation: Voice of Reason: Call to the Center

Twenty years ago, her target was a single Senator, Joseph R. McCarthy,
who sat smirking behind her as she spoke. Without once mentioning his
name, she charged him with debasing the Senate to the level of a forum
of hate and character assassination. That junior Senator from Wisconsin
is long gone, and the years have had their effect on the senior Senator
from Maine. Now 72, Margaret Chase Smith travels the Senate corridors
on a motorized golf cart, or she uses a walking cane. But she remains
among the most thoughtful and respected members of the Senate, her rose
in place,...